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Racing for the King Edward VII Gold Cup will be held May 6-11, 2019, on Hamilton Harbour

HAMILTON, Bermuda (Nov. 27, 2018) — The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club announces that invitations for the 2019 Argo Group Gold Cup were issued today for the match racing regatta scheduled May 6-11, 2019, with a $100,000 prize purse in the offing. The Argo Group Gold Cup is sponsored by Argo Group, an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance.

Invitations for the King Edward VII Gold Cup, one of the most coveted trophies in match racing, were mailed to 12 skippers based on their world ranking and past participation. The fleet will again compete in International One-Design (IOD) sloops on Hamilton Harbour.

“As title sponsor for the tenth year, Argo Group is proud to support this long-standing tradition in Bermuda, attracting the world’s best skippers and crews from the match-racing circuit,” said Mark E. Watson III, CEO, Argo Group. “Our shared commitment to innovation, teamwork and sustainability makes this partnership a perfect match.”

The Argo Group Gold Cup was moved to May from its previously traditional October dates this year and proved very successful with splendid conditions throughout the five days of racing. With the success of the change, organizers decided to schedule the 2019 event for May as well.

Canfield won the venerable King Edward VII Gold Cup for the second time, following his first win in 2012. Canfield’s crew included Mike Buckley, Victor Diaz de Leon, George Peet and Erik Shampain. They won $30,000 of the $100,000 prize purse.

Canfield succeeded in an exciting match that belies the lopsided scoreline. The final four races featured lead changes, penalties and luffing matches, the hallmarks of good, close match racing. In this case, Canfield and crew happened to come out on top versus a very experienced team.

“We made huge gains through the week,” said the 29-year-old Canfield of Miami, Fla. “The IOD is a tricky boat to sail and we had very tricky conditions this week. But the more time we spent in the boat the better we got. Full credit to Johnie and his team. They’re very experienced and have also won this trophy twice. We always have great matches against them.”

Berntsson, sailing in his ninth Gold Cup, won the trophy in 2008 and ’14, and also has four top three finishes. Berntsson and crew Oscar Angervall, Björn Lundgren and Robert Skarp won $15,000 for placing second overall.

Berntsson’s job as the CIO of a hospital in Stennungsund, Sweden, has prevented him from match racing full time the past few years, but his accumulated experience in the IOD and on Hamilton Harbour helped him get to the final where he and his crew ran into a ruthless opponent.

Welcome to the final day of the 68th Argo Group Gold Cup, where Taylor Canfield is on the cusp of winning the King Edward VII Gold Cup for the second time with his USone Sailing Team. Canfield previously won the trophy in 2012, which began a string of four consecutive top four finishes.

Canfield leads Johnie Berntsson’s Swedish crew, 2-1, in the final. The firsts three flights of the final were held yesterday afternoon. Canfield won the first and third flights while Berntsson took the second. Berntsson himself is a two-time champion at the Gold Cup, having won in 2008 and ’14. He has raced the Gold Cup nine times since 2008 and also has two seconds and a third in that time frame.

Today’s weather is in stark contrast to the conditions enjoyed throughout the week. The passage of a frontal system has swung the breeze around to the northwest. Correspondingly, the strength has dropped to 5 to 10 knots from the 12-knot average during the first four days of racing.

First up in the schedule are Torvar Mirsky and Lucy Macgregor in the Petit Final. Mirsky won the first race yesterday afternoon to take a 1-0 lead in the first-to-two points match. Their first warning signal is scheduled for 1000 hours.

The Final won’t take to the water before 1130 hours. The winner will be the first to score three points.

Frantic Friday in Bermuda sees plethora of racing from Quarterfinals to beginning of Final

HAMILTON, Bermuda (May 11, 2018) - Taylor Canfield’s USone Sailing Team has stepped out to a 2-1 lead over Johnie Berntsson’s Swedish crew in the Final of the 68th Argo Group Gold Cup. The winner of the match will be the first to score three points and will earn $30,000 of the $100,000 prize purse.

While Canfield and crew moved to match point so did Torvar Mirsky’s Australian crew in the Petit Final. Mirsky won the first race against Lucy Macgregor’s team from Great Britain in the first-to-two points match.

The two matches completed a frantic Friday at the venerable match racing regatta. The day began with the four pairs in the Quarterfinals. After a break for lunch the Semifinals were conducted followed by the beginning of the Final and Petit Final. Just as the racing was wrapping up shortly before 6:30 pm a 25-knot squall came ripping across Hamilton Harbour, putting an exclamation point on the day.

Canfield and Berntsson advanced to the Final by first winning their Quarterfinal matches against Ettore Botticini of Italy and Charlie Lalumiere of the U.S., respectively. Berntsson dominated Lalumiere in winning 3-0. And although Canfield also won by a 3-0 score, the match against the young Italian wasn’t as one-sided as the score might indicate.

“I felt we started well,” said the 23-year-old Botticini. “He really only beat us in one start. But he was quicker in maneuvers and sailed faster.”

The conditions on Hamilton Harbour saw a south/southwesterly breeze between 8 and 13-14 knots. The breeze was slightly more stable in direction than the first three days, but the strength still varied greatly. In the IOD sloops, a 2-knot windspeed difference can mean a difference of 10 degrees or greater in heading.

Canfield was able to pin penalties on Botticini in Flights 1 and 3, which helped his cause. Berntsson was hardly threatened in his match against Lalumiere. Mirsky played the right side of each race and had to come from behind to win Flight 3 after being on the course side at the starting signal.

Macgregor got a penalty on Aschenbrenner in the first flight, came from behind to win the second flight, lost the third flight when Aschenbrenner used a windshift on the first beat to get well ahead and then then won the fourth flight when she rode port tack across the starboard-tack Aschenbrenner to the right side of the racecourse.

As the leader of the regatta, Canfield earned the right to choose his opponent for the semifinals and he chose Macgregor. That decision forces a match between Berntsson and Mirsky in the other semifinal.

The first warning signal of the semifinals is scheduled for 1330 hours. The winner of each match will be the first to score three points. The race committee still intends to start the final and petit final after the conclusion of the semifinals.